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BETWEEN RACES By Oscar Otis CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky May 3 Horses and People One of the oddities of the Churchill Downs season was the item that Maf ostas first winner scored not in his home state of California but here when Mrs Gordon Gui bersons Mia Amante won a smart maiden race Mia Amante was the first fo l of Ma fosta and by a further coincidence the dam of Mia Amante No creiawas the mare who first proved up the now sensational California sire Khaled She was the dam of that great English studs first American foal and first winner Remolacha Californias methods of irri ¬ gation are finding more and more favor in Kentucky Lou Doherty of Elmendorf in ¬ stalled an irrigation system last year and now Bull Hancock has adopted a varia ¬ tion of the idea at Claiborne The differ ¬ ence is that at Claiborne a roll rain or overhead sprinkling system will be used instead of floor irrigation Both methods are popular in California depending a lot upon the topography of the particular plot of acreage to be watered although the flood method is found desirable on blood ¬ stock farms at certain intervals to discour ¬ age gophers a pest that Kentuckians do not have to contend with Wood from the West Coast has it that the Las Vegas race track has new financing is in process of being reorganized and it is planned to open in splendor nextspring Cost of com ¬ pleting the track and financing the open ¬ ing is said to amount to 600000 A prom ¬ inent eastern track executive and a San Francisco lawyer are behind the reorgani ¬ zation Racing will run three days a week including Sundays Inasmuch as we under ¬ stand the Las Vegas track will have casinos in both grandstand and clubhouse we be ¬ lieve such a meeting to be run in the spring following Santa Anita would be a success We base this observation on our personal experience at Reno in 1931 when Bill Kyne promoted a summer meeting there The casinos gave the track a profit even though the racing itself was operated at a loss lossA A A A AJockey Jockey Willie Shoemaker is en route to California for the Hollywood Park season after leading the riding colony at Jamaica Shoemaker completed three years of riding as of April 20 racked up a total of 930 wins during that period He could hit the 1000 mark during the Hollywood season If he were to ride at an average of more than 300 a year he could set some world records before his saddle days are over and they should last a long time because he is a natural lightweight Shoemaker could have ridden for a few days at Bel ¬ mont Park but did not do so because his agent Harry Silbert thought it would be bad manners to ride at a meeting except under special circumstances at which the boy did not intend to continue on to the conclusion Nominations for major Holly ¬ wood Park stakes closed on Saturday night and while racing secretary Johnny Malu vius has not as yet made public the lists we understand the roster of thoroughbred stars is the most brilliant in the history of the Inglewood track Regardless of what you may read about Intent he has no idea of shipping bapk east until after the run ¬ ning of the 100000 net guaranted to win ¬ ner Hollywood Gold Cup CupA A A A AWathen Wathen Knebelkamp chairman of the Kentucky State Racing Commission re ¬ marks that he hopes racing never goes night and elaborates on his opinion ex ¬ pressed in this column this week the rac ¬ ing is on its way Our family owned the Louisville ball club for more than 20 years says Knebelkamp and Im still not convinced that night ball is a good thing If night ball relies upon television to stimulate interest remember that night telecasts run smack into competition from some of the best entertainment in the world Personally I believe that with the proper use of television racing will enter upon an era of popularity that is far be ¬ yond the present imagination and one vital factor in this argument is that you can televise a race and get an entire per ¬ spective but you cant broadcast just one inning of a ball game and stir up any interest The Kentucky Racing Commission is awaiting the reaction nationally of the telecast of the Kentucky Derby with a great deal of interest Keenelands Johnny Clark is now tabulating and an ¬ alyzing the public poll taken on last day of the Lexington meeting a pool calculated to test consumer reaction ie that of the average fan and some of the answers in volume may well make racing proud of it ¬ self The analysis will be made public in about three weeks weeksA A A A ABarry Barry Whitehead director of racing at Denvers Centennial race track has made arrangements with Churchill Downs to borrow and old time tote clicker circa 1900 and display it at his track this sum ¬ mer The old parimutuel mechanisms are happily gone but not forgotten Seems to us like one should be in the national turf museum at Saratoga as a relic of the past and to also remind fans what terrific strides have been made in the safeguarding of the wagering Incidentally E A Wiede kamp veteran parimutuel boss here at the Downs tells us that odds were calculated in the old days by a man who hurriedly walked along in front of the 5 machines based his probable line on the 5 play as being most expressive of the allover wagering trends It was impossible of course to total all the lines or batteries of selling machines machinesA A A A ASeniors Seniors in the press box covering the Derby this year were Bill Keefe New Orleans TimesPicayune who reported his first Derby in 1915 and Ed Danforth of the Atlanta Journal and Charlie Hatton columnist for this newspaper who both broke in in 1916 Four former newspaper ¬ men play a vital role in the Downs opera ¬ tion Bill Corurn president Sam H Mc Meekin presiding steward Lincoln Plaut racing secretary and Brownie Leach director of good will Leach incidentally came in for great praise from all news hands assembled for the masterful assem ¬ blage of Derby data and background which was made available to the many covering the race Looks like Golden Gate Fields may get one of the great races of the year come Saturday what with Intent Miche and Lights Up named for the closing day feature at the Albany race track the 50000 added Golden Gate Handicap In cidentally do not sell Lights Up short in any future stake racing on the West Coast He is improving with every start and we look for him to be a formidable factor in all three and up races at a mile or more at Hollywood Park which opens on May 13
